GTP Cool Wall: 1989-1998 Mazda Miata/MX-5/Eunos Roadster

1989-1998 Mazda Miata/MX-5/Eunos Roadster

  • Total voters
    130
  • Poll closed .
White & Nerdy

White & Nerdy

4,209
United States
Wasilla, AK
1989-1998 Mazda Miata/MX-5/Eunos Roadster nominated by Roo

mx-5-1989-gallery-image-01.jpg


Stats:
Production: 1989-1998
Style: 2-door convertible
Engine: B6ZE(RS) 98 ci/1,597 cc naturally aspirated DOHC inline 4 (rated 114 HP & 99 lb-ft), BP 110 ci/1,839 cc naturally aspirated DOHC inline 4 (rated 132 HP & 114 lb-ft)
Transmission: 5-speed manual, 4-speed automatic (automatic not listed in nomination)
Layout: Front-engine, Rear-drive​

My take? You know what it's going to be. Fun cars they may be, and I almost had one once, but cool? No. Almost seriously not so, actually. Cutesy styling and tiny engines make a fairly uncool car, even if it is fun to drive.
 
Don't dislike them but I just don't think it's cool. However good they are unfortunately they'll always have a whiff of hairdresser about them.

Uncool.
 
Cool, but not sub-zero.

Everyone I knew when I had mine thought it was brilliant, whether they knew about cars or not. Also a car that can be appreciated whether you like driving or not. More? Sporty without being ostentatious. Fun without costing a fortune to run.

Also annoys the sort of half-wits who'd describe a car as "gay", and annoying half-wits is jolly good fun on its own, so that's enough for me.

Not S-Z because it's neither French nor Italian. Having that last dash of Latin flair would elevate it to the next level. Though you'd probably spend more time broken down at the side of the road.
 
A car that enchants the dreams of fanboys everywhere. I'm tempted to give it seriously uncool, but I think that might be a little harsh considering this car did bring back the roadster.
 
homeforsummer
Cool, but not sub-zero.

Everyone I knew when I had mine thought it was brilliant, whether they knew about cars or not. Also a car that can be appreciated whether you like driving or not. More? Sporty without being ostentatious. Fun without costing a fortune to run.

Also annoys the sort of half-wits who'd describe a car as "gay", and annoying half-wits is jolly good fun on its own, so that's enough for me.
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It transpires that the only people who say it's gay or for hairdressers are young male "car enthusiasts" - who are neither car enthusiasts nor cool.

Everyone else loves it. In fact even people who don't care about cars in the slightest (more than the background level of not being interested) know it's a "Mazda MX thingy". You can get away with murder - or at least vehicular manslaughter - in an MX-5 with the roof down.

It won't break into sub-zero territory, but not by much.
 
In here, only the most recent MX5 generation has been available and it's incredi-expensive, so you always see them driven by hair-dressers of the first magnitude. more like rich kids that want a flashy sports car but their parents couldn't afford to buy them something better or more agressive.

For me, that doesn't take away it's heritage or how good a car it is. And the fact that there are actually V8 swap kits for these at the ready makes them awesome. Cool.
 
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Famine
"Mazda MX thingy"
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Almost certain I heard that a few times. And if people really had lived under a rock most of their lives you could usually twig their memory with the "you know, with the pop-up headlights?...".
 
Famine
It transpires that the only people who say it's gay or for hairdressers are young male "car enthusiasts" - who are neither car enthusiasts nor cool.
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I guess I must not live and breath cars then.

I don't claim to be cool because doing so makes you automatically uncool but you've just said I'm not a car enthusiast.[/quote]
 
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You appear to be male and of my generation. QED.
Clark
I guess I must not live and breath cars then.

I don't claim to be cool because doing so makes you automatically uncool but you've just said I'm not a car enthusiast.
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If you'd call any car "gay", I'd not only question your credentials as someone enthusiastic about cars but as a person. It's a frankly terrible attitude to have.

So let's assume you're not an awful person and you'd say it's for hairdressers. What is it about a 15-25 year old Japanese convertible that you'd say particularly attracts the attention of folk who wield scissors around the hirsute for a day job? Is there something about the design of the seats that is naturally conducive to removing short, fine pieces of hair? Is the steering wheel lined with macassar-resistant material? Are the cubby holes ideally shaped to hold those jars of weird disinfectant they plonk their tools in?

The last person I paid to cut my hair drove a Mercedes S600. The people that do my wife's hair own a Porsche 996 911 and an Alpina B10. Of the literally hundreds of people I know who own or have owned MX-5s not a single one has ever been employed by a barber - the largest proportion by industry are actually IT professionals. The "MX-5 hairdresser car" thing is a tired old stereotype probably coined once by a journo in the early 1990s and never questioned, just trotted out on a regular basis without any examination. If you want to just unthinkingly parrot someone else's words what makes you more of a car enthusiast than someone who belches out the Gospel of St. Clarkson?

And it has nothing to do with whether you like the car or not - or think it's cool or not. If you'd say any car is for hairdressers without a reasonable justification for why the cranial topiary industry would make a reasonably large purchaser demographic, I'd probably not bother listening to you beyond that.


Undoubtedly to counter this you're going to mention a thread somewhere in which I remarked that a significant number of drivers of a certain vehicle, in my experience, have been nobs (probably one of the BMW ones) or that the typical buyer of something is of a certain social standing (probably one of the pickup trucks) but that would miss out the point that it's in my experience. I will concede that if it's in your experience that MX-5 owners cut hair for a living, you're entitled to remark that it's your experience that MX-5 owners are hairdressers. This is part of the "reasonable justification" above.
 
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The cute and approachable one always gets a cool. Even if it weren't for the fanboys and track day geeks I don't think it would break into Sub Zero.
 
Actually, I agree, we car guys are the only ones aware of the "hairdresser" stereotype. Regular people? They see a little fun roadster that isn't show-offy or ostentatious. They see a simple, humble man, with a sense of humour who likes to have fun in his car. And they'll think that's cool right until the moment you mutter the words "autocross" or "50/50 weight distribution". Still, on the streets people will barely notice you and if they do they'll smile.

Not Sub-Zero, even though I'd LOVE to have one of those with an FE3N engine, but still a hefty cool.
 
I love this car, and if I could've found a low mileage one with a hardtop, it would be sitting in the driveway.
 
Uncool.

Yes. Popular they may be and good cars to drive they may also be.

But I've never felt compelled to drive one nor have I saw one and gone 'wow there's an MX5! I'd love one of those'.
My uncle owned one for a brief period and he looked ridiculous in it. I don't think they're a hairdressers car in particular but I can see why people would think so.
 
Famine
So let's assume you're not an awful person and you'd say it's for hairdressers. What is it about a 15-25 year old Japanese convertible that you'd say particularly attracts the attention of folk who wield scissors around the hirsute for a day job?
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And rightly you picked me up on the hairdresser issue as no car can be 'gay' and I don't stigmatise being gay, never have done.

When growing up my mom was good friends with a hairdresser, she had owned an original MX5, an MR-S and was driving a Rav4 at the time (this was 15 or so years ago).

At that time I loved cars but none of my friends or extended family did so I'd never had the opportunity to sit/have a ride in anything sporty (my dad had a Micra at the time). When I was taking to her about it she mentioned she'd got it because a colleague of hers who had one recommended it as a reliable, cheap 'soft-top'.

So long story short, I knew a hairdresser who'd bought one because another hairdresser she knew liked hers. Not saying that being a hairdressers car was the reason the Mx5 was made.

Just like the fact I drive a 1 series and in my experience they're predominately driven by women or people my age with tinted windows and gloss black wheels, doesn't change what they car was made for. I know my car is hideously uncool but I didn't buy it be cool. The Boxster, 911 and plenty of other sports have increasingly been bought as fashion statements, but again it doesn't change what they were made for.

So yes I believe the MX5 is uncool because of the affiliation with hairdressers I've experienced. I didn't say it was a bad car and I'm not saying only hairdressers drive them or like them. I'd still have an E46 M3 despite the scores of arses that drive them.
 
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I'm sorry, what is it that is uncool about hairdressers?

OK, if they charge 50€ for a haircut, maybe that's uncool, but otherwise...

What?

(I'm not arguing that hairdressers are actually cool, I just don't see the uncool.)
 

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